Saturday, March 29, 2008

Hat Lady

I was riding the Culver City bus this afternoon when I spotted the hat lady waiting at a bus stop on the other side of Beverly Glen.I had not seen the hat lady all winter and feared she was no longer around.She is not a street person but an elderly woman who wears homemade hats.The hats are unusual because they are made from plain old paper grocery store bags.I first noticed her on the bus about five years ago but see her all over and have had a few upclose looks in Ralphs grocery store a large chain here which is where I suspect she gets her material.Firstly(is that a word?) she has to turn them inside out so no printing shows.I can only describe the shape as like something you would see a rich brit wearing in those newspaper pics you see of spring horse/dog/polo shows one sees in the papers.The sort of hat a young girl might wear on Easter.She shapes that bag and then decorates it with ribbons a bow around mid center and flowers.Sometimes they are fresh sometimes plastic.I have seen her with a fresh rose and one Saint Patricks day fresh green carnations.They really are quite impressive but I do not know what gives her the muse of making these paper bag hats.

2 comments:

Susan said...

Pictures, please.

JAbel said...

That will be hard cause I don't have a cell phone let alone one with a camera and don't ever plan on one.But maybe I can tell my neighbors to be on the lookout for her.